In what can be called the perfect comeuppance for Mumbai, an angry sea dumped tonnes of garbage along the metropolis’ beaches, including famous tourist locations such as Marine Drive, Juhu and Worli Seaface.
Furious waves have been battering Mumbai since Saturday following weather warnings of high tides and heavy rains, which are set to pound the city again on Sunday.
The waves of the Arabian Sea spewed everything from plastic to polystyrene (thermocol) on the beaches revealing what the city had been dumping in the heart of the sea. Bottles, cans, glass, plastic bags, food packets and every possible item discarded by humans were seen strewn all over the beaches and promenades. Such was the quantity of garbage that not a spot on the picturesque sites was spared.
According to reports, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) deployed 55 workers to clear 12 tonnes of garbage from Marine Drive alone. The Marine Drive is a 3.6 kilometre long historic promenade frequented by people of the metropolis and tourists. Marine Drive was in the news last week for the cluster of Art Deco buildings which were made part of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On Saturday, the famous beachfronts looked like the dirtiest places on earth.
Afroz Shah, who has been cleaning the Versova beach over the last two years, posted pictures and tweeted about a beach cleaning drive along Marine Drive.
“Dear ocean , We messed with you and your citizens . I feel ashamed as a human that I got u to this breaking point .You Puke and we know u r unwell Please forgive me my dear fishes and birds for messing with your life’s We do our bit,” he wrote.
Week 143 . #Marinedebris Chronicle .
Dear ocean ,
We messed with you and your citizens . I feel ashamed as a human that I got u to this breaking point .You Puke and we know u r unwell
Please forgive me my dear fishes and birds for messing with your life’s
We do our bit pic.twitter.com/sWoJUWiS6Y
— Afroz Shah (@AfrozShah1) July 14, 2018
Others joined him saying that the dumping of garbage by the sea was a wake-up call for humanity.
Dia Mirza called for the immediate implementation of ‘Extended Producers Responsibility’.
“Implementation of ‘Extended Producers Responsibility’ – EPR is the need of the hour. Every piece of plastic packaging is by law the producers (companies that package all our food and beverage in plastics) responsibility. It’s time companies did their bit. #BeatPlasticPollution,” she said.
Implementation of ‘Extended Producers Responsibility’ – EPR is the need of the hour. Every piece of plastic packaging is by law the producers (companies that package all our food and beverage in plastics) responsibility. It’s time companies did their bit. #BeatPlasticPollution https://t.co/Y1uIFsdV22
— Dia Mirza (@deespeak) July 15, 2018
Weather officials have warned that waves of higher intensity will batter Mumbai coastline on Sunday. A high alert has been issued with officials stating that waves of almost 4.97 metres might strike the coastal stretch of the city. People have been warned to stay away from the beaches and famous promenades.